Apostasy (Mormonism)

Apostasy, in Mormonism, is when individuals, the church, or entire nations forsake or abandon the gospel of Jesus. According to the LDS Church, apostasy results in division, confusion, and the loss of priesthood authority, or the right to act in the name of God. Nephi, as recorded in First Nephi, received a premonition that precious and plain parts of the Bible (the Book of Mormon) would be lost, leading to gentile apostasy and the start of the Catholic Church (called "the church of the devil" in Mormonism).